Of Dads and Brothers
by AnnaStormRogers
Summary: When Alan disappears during a rescue with Virgil, he is found seemingly unharmed. But the deepest wounds are the ones unseen.


**Hello readers ! This is my first Thunderbirds fanfiction. So I really really hope it not too OOC, over the top or cheesy. Well, I really hope more than anything that it isn't cheesy...but feel free to tell me if it is. I first put this up on Tumblr a really, really long time back. Thought about putting it up here but never really got to it. Well, at least I managed to do it before the year ended huh ? Yeah, yeah, I know, that's not a valid excuse. I'm just lazy. Sorry ! Anyway, I'm now done rambling. On with the story ! I do not own TAG or the characters.**

Virgil ran like he had never run before,opening doors and cursing when he didn't find his brother. "He isn't here John. He isn't here !", he growled in frustration. "He has to be !",his normally calm brother said with a hint of panic. "Just keep looking."

Pushing a door open, Virgil sighed in relief as he spotted his youngest brother.

"Alan !" But the relief soon turned into concern when Alan didn't look up from his curled up position on the floor and didn't respond.

"Alan ?",Virgil asked softly as he knelt next to his kid brother. "Allie are you hurt ?", he asked more urgently even as his large hands gently ran over Alan's ribs to check for damage. Finding none, he sighed in relief. "Virgil ! Is he okay ?", John's voice cut through the silence.

"Physically, yes he's fine. I'll have to get back to you on the rest. Tell Scott to get here as soon as possible. "

"F.A.B."

Turning off his communicator, he turned his attention back to his brother shaking his shoulder gently. That seemed to snap Alan out of his daze. He looked at his big brother and his expression crumpled into a look of utter despair and grief. In a second, Virgil found his arms full of violently trembling little brother. Surprised, Virgil instinctively wrapped his arms around Alan and pulled him closer.

Clutching onto his brother's uniform, Alan felt hot tears drip down his face and onto his big brother's shoulder. After a while, the comforting arm wrapped tight around him and the gentle hand buried in his hair caused him to pull back slightly to look at Virgil.

Giving his arm a supporting squeeze, Virgil looked at his brother enquiringly. "What's the matter bro ?", he asked Alan uncertainly, not wanting to set him off again. It didn't seem to work as Alan's eyes filled with tears once again. Kicking himself for asking his brother that question, he hugged him again.

"Alright kiddo, you don't have to tell me now.", he said kissing the top of his head gently.

They sat in silence for a long time, only the occasional sniffle from Alan breaking the silence.

"H-he was here. He was r-right here. "

The shaky, hoarse voice was so sudden that Virgil almost jumped in alarm. Giving Alan a another gentle squeeze, he silently prompted him to continue.

" The H-hood. He was here. "Alan felt his brother stiffen but say nothing, instead clutching him tighter as if to protect him from the world.

"I was s-scared. I didn't know who took me. They had m-masks on.", he felt his voice catch on the lump in his throat and swallowed painfully before continuing. " Someone snuck i-in. I thought one of y-you were here, or Kayo. I-I-it wasn't. It was h-him."

The pain of what he was about to say caused his voice to shake even more. "H-h-he came as d-dad. I-I thought it w-was dad. I t-thought daddy came f-for me. W-when I needed him. But it wasn't… it wasn't."

Virgil closed his eyes feeling the sting of oncoming tears. Anger filled him at the thought of what his brother went through, having his hopes raised and then crushed so cruelly. As if determined to break his heart, Alan continued," l shoulda k-known. It was j-just a h-hologram. But I w-wanted it to be him so b-bad. I j-just want dad back. I just w-want d-daddy to hold m-me again. P-please…."

At that, Alan into another round of heart-wrenching sobs, even worse that before. "It's okay, Allie. It's gonna be ok.", Virgil said trying to comfort his baby brother despite the tears running down his own face. He rocked and held him as tight as he could, kissing his head over and over again. He wished he could fix it, make it ok again, say something that would heal reopened wounds, but he had no words that could do that. So he just held on that much tighter, trying to soothe in a way mere words never could.

They sat there for a long time, clutching each other, one holding on for a desperate need of comfort and protection and the other with an overwhelming need to protect and heal. 

They were still sitting in that position when Scott got there.

Scott sighed in relief as he led the last survivors of the collapsed building to safety. He was exhausted after nearly 16 hours of digging through the rubble. All he was looking forward to now was a shower and his nice, warm bed.

"Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 5. Mission was a success. Minimum number of casualties and the situation is now under control."

"Wha…..oh right, umm….that's great Scott but we have a bit of a situation here." ,John's hologram appeared in the cockpit of Thunderbird 1.

Seeing his normally calm brother so flustered sent alarm bells ringing in Scott's mind. "What is it John ?"

"Thunderbird 2's mission didn't exactly go according to plan. Something was interfering with the comms at the site and there was a lot of chaos at the scene. Virgil and Alan couldn't keep track of each other the entire time."He hesitated slightly and Scott raised his eyebrows, wordlessly asking him to continue.

"Virgil lost sight of Alan in all that panic. With all the people that needed help, he couldn't go looking for him till almost an hour later. Long story short, Alan was kidnapped and we found a lead that indicated he was in a building about 5 blocks away from the scene of the rescue. Virgil found him there. The kidnappers just left him there. He asked you to come to the building about two hours ago." Scott just stared at John and John knew he was about to explode any minute. Sure enough….. 

"WHAT THE HELL JOHN ?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ?",he thundered, absolutely furious.

Suddenly calm again, John responded quietly,"You had to concentrate on the rescue Scooter. Virgil asked me not to tell you till the mission was done. He had everything under control. I'm sending you the co-ordinates now. "

As much as Scott hated it at that moment, he knew John was right. "Is Alan alright ? ",he asked finally, still a bit annoyed with his brother, even if he agreed with him.

"He isn't hurt. But Virgil switched off his comm. They're the only two people in the building. Whatever Alan told him must be pretty bad though.",John said, looking worried. "Maybe that's why Virgil asked you to come. "

"F.A.B. I'll talk to you later John. " John nodded and the hologram blinked out.

"Allie what did you get yourself into this time ?",Scott sighed, altering Thunderbird 1's course.

The sight that met Scott as he walked into the room was something that sent his big brother instincts rocketing sky high. Alan was sitting, cradled in Virgil's lap with Virgil's large, muscular arms wrapped protectively around him. It was obvious that both brothers had been crying. But while Virgil looked up at Scott's entrance, Alan buried his face deeper in his middle brother's shoulder.

Kneeling down next to them, Scott engulfed both his brothers in a crushing embrace. Alan finally looked up and with tears still in his eyes, he unwrapped one arm from around Virgil to snake around Scott's neck while the other arm still clutched at Virgil.

After a long embrace, Scott pulled back slightly, studying his brothers again. He didn't ask them what happened. He hadn't seen either of his brothers cry like this since their father disappeared. Virgil, strong, reliable, independent Virgil didn't let go of his hand. What Alan told him was obviously terrible and Scott didn't want to make Alan repeat the story nor did he want Virgil to have to listen to it all over again. He decided that his brother would tell him when he was ready and recovered enough from his ordeal.

But that didn't stop him from gritting his teeth in anger as he imagined what his baby brother had been through for him to act the way he was. Tears were still slipping slowly down his face and he didn't look like he was going to make any move to shift off his big brother's lap. Virgil didn't seem to mind at all, holding Alan closer to his chest and running a gentle hand over his back. His youngest brother, usually loud, cheerful, and so averse to being babied, was being held in Virgil's lap protectively like they had all held him when he was just a tiny, little boy. Alan didn't hate physical affection, in fact, he loved it, frequently cuddling into their sides while watching movies and hugging them almost everyday but once he was a thirteen, he wouldn't allow any of his four older brothers to hold him like Virgil held him now.

Scoot squeezed Virgil's hand and gently wiped the tears off Alan's face. When more replaced them, he bit his lip in dismay before pulling both his brothers into a hug again and kissing Alan's forehead."It's gonna be okay baby brother. It's okay. I'm here. We both are. "

Giving his little brothers some much needed time to calm down, he gently suggested that they go home. He allowed Virgil to carry their littlest brother out of the building and into Thunderbird 2. Normally, he would've insisted that he be the one to take Alan, but now, he realised that both his brothers needed the comfort, however small, of just being with each other.

Once home, he didn't comment on the fact that Gordon was back from his mission and John was down from Thunderbird 5. Instead, all five brothers snuggled down together on the couch holding one another.

Alan would be okay eventually. They knew that. They all would be…..but until then, and even after, they would hold on for dear life to all they had left. Each other.

 **Thank you for reading. Please leave a review.**


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